Devils and Rangers Renew Hostilities | PREVIEW

New Jersey welcomes the New York Rangers for the first time this season, the two teams meeting in the regular season for the first time since the Devils Game 7 win. 

You can watch on MSGSN or listen on the Devils Hockey Network.

Read below for your game preview and pre-game story below.

PRE-GAME STORY

The Devils did not hold a morning skate ahead of facing the New York Rangers. Head coach Lindy Ruff met with the media prior to the game. Here are highlights of that availability.

Jack Back?

Devils center Jack Hughes is close to returning to the lineup from an upper-body injury that has kept him out of the past five games. He will take warmups with the team, and if all goes well, he will play in the game.

“I anticipate him feeling well. We’re just being precautionary and making sure everything goes well,” Ruff said.

Injury Run Down

The Devils are dealing with a few other injury fronts. Timo Meier missed the team’s last game and he will not play again against the Rangers. Neither will captain Nico Hischier, who has been out since Oct. 27 with an upper-body injury.

“No upate on Timo or Nico. Neither guy will play,” Ruff said.

Though, center Tomas Nosek, who missed Friday’s practice with a maintenance day, is expected to be in the lineup.

“Nosek in all likelihood will play tonight,” Ruff said.

Seven-11

The Devils went with an 11-7 lineup at Pittsburgh Thursday night, resulting in a 5-2 victory. Colin Miller was dressed as the seventh defenseman, making his Devils debut.

Will the Devils keep that format?

“Pretty good possibility,” Ruff said.

The Blueshirts

The Devils face their biggest rival tonight in the New York Rangers, and for the first time in the regular season under new head coach Peter Laviolette.

“They’ve really done a good job so far,” Ruff said. “They were a really good team last year. They’re a really good team again. They had some really good stretches late in the year. Their defense are mobile, and involved a lot. Four lines deep, good defense corps. They’re playing solid at both ends of the ice.”

The Rangers will deploy a 1-3-1 neutral zone scheme. It’s something the Devils have seen before. In fact, they played it twice during the preseason against New York.

“You have to make sure you don’t turn pucks over. You’ve got to hit that with speed,” Ruff said. “We used some clips from preseason when we played them. We showed that we used our speed, play quick. You can turn that into a non-factor.”

--Sam Kasan, Devils Beat Writer

PREVIEW

DEVILS (8-6-1) vs. RANGERS (11-2-1)

Head-to-Head

This will be the first meeting between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers this season. It is a much-anticipated matchup not only as a rivalry, but this will also be the first meeting since the Devils eliminated the Rangers in Game 7 last season.

Not only did the Devils have the Rangers number in the post-season, but they also posted a 3-0-1 record in the regular season.

Devils Team Scope:

The New Jersey Devils may have their star center back in the lineup on Saturday night. Jack Hughes returned to practice with his teammates for the first time in two weeks. Hughes's availability will depend on how he is feeling after Friday's practice and a morning skate, leaving him a game-time decision. Hughes has missed five games during his recovery.

As one player gets healthy, another one unfortunately takes his place. Timo Meier missed Friday's practice with an injury and head coach Lindy Ruff indicated that he still remains out.

The Devils are coming off their best performance of the season, breaking out against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a 5-2 victory. Notably, four of the five goals scored by the Devils came at even-strength.

The Devils are fourth in the division, six points behind the top-seeded Rangers.

Rangers Team Scope:

The Rangers are coming off of a five-day break, without a game Monday through Friday. It has given some of the Rangers players the ability to recover from ailments, including their number one goaltender Igor Shesterkin. He hasn't played in over two weeks and could return to the net against the Devils on Saturday. The break also allowed defenseman Ryan Lindgren to an injury he sustained in the Rangers last game against Columbus.

New York has not lost a game in regulation in nearly an entire month, as they boast the division-best 11-2-1 record with 23 points and are on a 10-game point streak (9-0-1).

The Rangers are led by Artemi Panarin who has 24 points (8g-16a) in 14 games.

By the Numbers:

Saturday night's matchup will pit the NHL's top two power plays against each other.

The Devils lead the league with their 38.9 percent efficiency, while the Rangers sit closely behind at 33.3 percent.

Injuries:

Devils

Nico Hischier (Upper-body, IR)
Timo Meier (Lower-body)

Rangers

Adam Fox (LTIR)
Filip Chytil (IR)